


adventures in the afterlife

by crosspolination



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Author's Questionable Sense of Humor, Domestic arguments, Fluff, Gen, Post-Ending, Reunions, Spoilers, afterlife adventures, ardyn is their neighbor but he spends most of his time in noctis' apartment, as in... luna just......crushes really hard on both nyx and aranea, crack-fic, friendships, implied aranea / luna, luna has the spare room, messiness, noctis cries a lot bc he misses his pals, noctis is also thirty and is still in love with his best friend, noctis is thirty but he just...doesn't like vegetables man, they all live on noctis' apartment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 10:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10092185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crosspolination/pseuds/crosspolination
Summary: The one where Noctis gets to the afterlife and finds Luna, his old childhood friend who disapproves of his beard and Ardyn Izunia, the man who's pretty much responsible of his own death, as his neighbor.Noctis is not sure he enjoys being dead.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on an idea my friend el (@tonberrypng on twitter and tumblr follow her for quality art and content) and i had once ages ago. i decided to finish this at 2 in the morning. boy oh boy.
> 
> note: nothing is meant to be taken seriously on this. it's an idea that got out of hand and it's now 3 in the morning. nothing is real anyway less is this fic so let's not take it too seriously shall we

**i** **.**

When Noctis sees her in the afterlife, he thinks it’s impossible for someone to look prettier than that. Luna smiles at him widely, and Noctis is brought back to simpler times where it was him and her learning things together when they were children. However, as Noctis steps closer, Luna’s face starts to change from a smile to a frown.

A little bit of panic starts to grow on Noctis’ chest, fearing that this moment will be tainted by some kind of cruel reality that awaits him, so carefully, like pronouncing her name will make her disappear, he says: “Luna?”

“Noctis,” she says; her hands on her hips and her frown increasing. “You are _not_ getting close to me unless you shave that thing off your face.”

“Really? Years without not seeing each other and this is what you say?”

Luna laughs. “You’re right.”

She steps closer and envelops Noctis on a hug, and she’s _real_ , she’s here and Noctis hugs her back, ready to start crying because the last time she had him in her arms she died and Noctis could not bear to lose her ever again. And now he won’t ever lose her. It’s probably the best feeling in the world. Luna is a bit teary-eyed when she pulls away after who knows how long, and she laughs again and Noctis won’t ever get tired of hearing that sound.

“Welcome back,” Luna says.

“It’s good to be here,” Noctis replies, holding her hand and _fuck_ , she’s actually here. “It seems like a nice place to live.”

They’re in a replica of Insomnia. He knows they’re outside Noctis’ apartment, and it feels super weird because he never thought he’d see this place again.

“Um, should we go in?” he sounds a bit awkward, but that might be all the emotions that he can’t describe bottling up.

Luna nods, and opens the door to the apartment and it’s _exactly_ like he left it.

“Go shave. I’m serious. I won’t talk to you until you’re shaved!”

Noctis laughs, walking into the bathroom and staring at himself on the mirror. By the Six, he needs a shower, shaving, and a haircut. How did his friends allow him to be outside with this appearance?

His friends—Noctis grasps onto the bathroom’s sink. Prompto. Ignis. Gladio. He tries to not dwell too much on the thought, he tries to not worry about how they’re doing, but the photo he carries inside his pocket is burning him so he takes it out to look at it again. It’s that silly photo they took at the beginning of their adventure, all of them in front of the Regalia, smiling, and it aches.

It aches because Noctis knows he should be at his happiest because Luna is here, but he can’t help to _miss_ them too — they’ve been with him most of their lives. The guys mean the same as Luna means to him, they have the same place in Noctis’ heart and to think they’re not here to see him with her hurts too much. His hands tremble — maybe he should shave later.

He lets the water wash away his sadness. They deserve a well-lived life, not to be here before their time. They’ve still got so much to do — Noctis had already made his part. Once he’s done showering, he shaves, and now he can recognize the person on the mirror: he looked infinitely younger with the beard gone.

He dresses up, and tucks the photo of the four of them on the pocket near his chest, to keep them close to his heart always.

**ii.**

He steps out of the shower with renewed energy, the whole “I’m here with Luna in my old apartment” vibe still not fully settling in, but still enjoying it. He hears Luna laugh, and Noctis asks:

“Who’re you talking to?” Walking into the living room, Noctis suddenly stops on his tracks as he sees another person sitting on the sofa. He sees a _hat_ , and Noctis’ blood goes cold. “Hello?”

“Oh, if it isn’t Your Majesty himself,” the unmistakable voice of Ardyn says, and within seconds, Noctis has him grabbed by his shirt, eyes widened and fist tightening around his shirt. “Woah there, friend!”

“ _What_ are you doing here?”

“He lives next door,” Luna explains calmly. “Noctis. Let him go.”

“But—” Noctis says, looking at Luna in disbelief. She’s the _last_ person who should be saying that. “He—”

“ _Noct_ ,” she says again, softer. “Let him go.”

Noctis lets him go so suddenly that his whole body collapses against the sofa, making a loud noise. “ _Why_ are you so calm? He—he killed you! You _killed_ my friend!”

“The past is in the past, Noct,” Ardyn replies, looking up to Noctis with a playful smile. “Lady Lunafreya — she already forgave me. We talked a lot before you came here.”

 “You—”

“I figured, if we’re going to spend eternity with the man who killed me, might as well put the past behind us.” Luna smiles. “I punched the shit out of him.”

“You did?” Noctis asks, a smile of his own forming on his lips.

“She has a mean right hook,” Ardyn laughs. Noctis glares at him. “But afterwards we had tea, so, it’s all good.”

“Don’t speak.”

“But, Your Majesty, I thought we were at peace — wasn’t our last moment together in the living world enough proof that we were good?”

Noctis keeps glaring. “It _doesn’t_ change the fact you _killed_ Luna, you bastard!”

“I get it, you’re stubborn—”

“You’re a _murderer_!”

“Now, Majesty, name-calling isn’t fun.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Luna steps in, hooking her arm around Noctis’ and bringing him to the kitchen. “I know you’re furious.”

“I am.”

“And you have every right to be. I’m not telling you what to do,” Luna continues, “But please, you must consider that the three of us are here for eternity. You’ll have to get used to it,” she looks up to him with a bit of sadness on her face. “I'm sorry, Noct.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Noctis says, squeezing her hand a bit. “Just… can I kick him out?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Noctis grins. In a second, he’s back in the living room, pulling Ardyn out of the sofa and dragging him out. Ardyn looks behind Noctis, and as he’s being kicked out, he asks, “Are we having tea the same time tomorrow, Lady Lunafreya?”

“Of course!” Luna calls back from behind Noctis. “Goodbye!”

Noctis closes the door, and stares weirdly at Luna. “You guys drink tea together?”

“And we play Poker, too. I always win.”

Noctis looks at her like she grew an extra head.

“What? I had nothing else to do and he’s great at Poker. He is also a very good partner when it comes to having conversations, believe it or not. He has a lot of stories to tell.”

Noctis blinks, trying to understand the fact that Luna is somehow in a stable almost-friendship with her murderer. Maybe that’s what being dead does to you? Being kinder and accepting forgiveness?

“Are you hungry? Do you want anything for dinner?”

“Yeah, actually. This whole thing is making me hungry. Anything you prepare will be good for me.”

**iii.**

While Luna is in the kitchen and Noctis is at the dining table of his own apartment, he wonders if this is how it was supposed to be if nothing went wrong. Luna would come to live with him, and maybe she wouldn’t cook — maybe Ignis would—

Ignis. The familiar tug at his heartstrings is back, reminding him that the last time he ate something Ignis made was more than ten years ago. The picture inside his pocket manifests itself, and Noctis takes it out to stare at it. He misses them so badly. He wishes they could be with him—Ignis would be overjoyed to cook for Luna, Gladio wouldn’t miss a beat to talk to her about any embarrassing stories about Noctis, and Prompto— _fuck_ , Prompto. He wanted to meet her so badly. He would’ve been filling his camera with photos of him and Luna by this point, and Luna would’ve loved him as much as Noctis did.

He’s pulled away from his thoughts as Luna deposits a plate of salad in front of him. She takes her seat opposite him on the table with a huge grin on her face.

Noctis looks at his plate. It’s… it’s full of vegetables. He toys with it a little, and yup, just plain vegetables. Noctis _knows_ he’s thirty, alright? He knows it's not the age to be a picky-eater anymore. But, to be _fair_ , the vegetables were only good on his plate if they were hidden by another food; or inside a food and demolished to the point the vegetables couldn’t be felt when they were eaten. He sighs. Maybe Ignis shouldn’t have been so soft on him.

“What’s wrong?” asks Luna, concerned. “Is everything okay?”

This is so _stupid_. He’s so stupid. “I, uh…”

“Yes…?”

“I don’t like vegetables.”

Luna stares at him, wide-eyed. “You _what_?”

“I…I don’t like vegetables?” he repeats, now a bit unsure.

“ _Noctis_ ,” she breathes out, putting her fork down. “How… how… but you _have_ to eat them!”

“I know,” Noctis sighs, “but Ignis had a special way to make me eat them.”

Luna raises an eyebrow. “Special way?” she chuckles, “Did he made airplane noises while making you eat?”

He knows she means it as a joke, but Noctis is reminded of times when he was little and Ignis would try to get him to eat by making airplane noises. A little bit too late, he answers, “No…”

“So he _did_ made airplane noises.”

“I was six, he was nine, and he was just taking care of me!” Noctis pouts. “The point is—”

“ _How_ do you not like vegetables?”

“I… I don’t know? I just don’t?”  He sighs. “They taste weird and I don’t like their texture.”

Luna looks _offended_. It’s a bit hilarious. “I’m glad we never got married, because I would be filling the divorce papers right now.”

Noctis laughs.

“Sorry for not knowing you didn’t like them,” Luna says. “Perhaps I should have asked Ignis to tell me how to make you eat vegetables,” she adds, almost like an afterthought.

Noctis shakes his head. “It’s not your fault! I didn’t know you liked salads this much.”

“It’s the best thing in the world. I can make something else if you want…?”

“Nah, it’s fine,” he shrugs, trying to playing it cool. He starts eating and – gods it’s so _uncomfortable_. He grins nervously. “It’s great!”

Luna throws her head back and laughs.

**iv.**

Noctis tries to figure out what he’s feeling. He’s not… uncomfortable. It’s the contrary, of course, he feels extremely comfortable with Luna, but he finds out he’s not great at making conversations with her.  Maybe the fact that they’ve spent over ten years just talking via notebooks and mostly writing one line of text could get in the way of actually getting to know each other. On one hand, it’s _Luna_ , Noctis _knows_ her, but on the other hand – does he know her?

He knows the version of Luna he has in his mind, the one he remembers from when they were little, and he knows the version of Luna from the texts on her notebook – calm, reserved, and taking her time to choose what she wants to say. Noctis wonders if she feels the same way he’s doing right now – because it shouldn’t be _awkward_ , two friends being reunited after years isn’t supposed to be like this. Yet, Luna only smiles and then yawns, standing up from the dining table and picking up their plates.

And… she leaves them there. Noctis frowns – it’s not like he’s going to make Luna _wash_ them, but he’s so used to eating and immediately cleaning his plate to not piss off Ignis, it’s weird to see someone not do it. But it’s fine. Luna turns around. “Your bedroom is all clean, by the way. You can use it if you want.”

Noctis almost breathes out relieved — he didn’t know if they’d be sharing bed or not. Not that Noctis isn’t used to it, he’s shared bed with Prompto, _hell_ , he’s shared room _and_ bed with his three best friends. He just didn’t feel like Luna or he would be _comfortable_ enough with each other to sleep in the same bed.

“Will do. Thanks, Luna.”

She nods, walking towards Noctis and giving him a quick hug, before disappearing into the spare room Noctis had, where usually Ignis would stay over, or Prompto, although Prompto always ended up on his bedroom, with his sleeping bag on the floor and the spare bedroom being unused.

Noctis looks back at the sink, where the plates are there, alongside other glasses and more cutleries — he could feel Ignis’ voice haunting him, telling him to do the dishes. And if there’s anything of all the things Ignis has done for him, keeping himself and his environment tidy and clean is the one thing that stuck to him the most.

He steps back to admire the now _very_ clean kitchen, and can almost feel Gladio patting him in the back while Ignis congratulates him.

He goes into his bedroom, overwhelmed at how there’s still all the boxes from when he packed everything up before leaving his apartment to going on his quest for the first time. He opens box by box, finding his old comics and old belongings, filling him with nostalgia in a second. He’s going to unpack them tomorrow, but for now, if he lies down on his bed and closes his eyes, he can almost feel Prompto moving on the floor, trying to fit on his sleeping bag. The thought is comforting enough to lure him to sleep.

**v.**

“Is he going to be here all day?” Noctis mumbles, glaring at Ardyn.

Luna shrugs, giving him another comic to put up on his shelf. “I’m used to it.”

“ _Why_ do you own so many comics?” Ardyn asks, picking them up. Noctis does a physical struggle to not shove him off his comic books. “I didn’t take you to be the nerdy kind, your Majesty.”

“Yeah, well,” Noctis says, “I got nerdier when I started to hang out with Prompto, so you can blame him for that.”

“Prompto’s into comic books?” Luna asks with an amused smile. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Yeah! He’s _way_ more of a nerd than I ever was.” Noctis stops, looking down to the one on his hands. “He forced me and him to be Star Wars characters for Halloween.”

“Who were you two?”

“It was a long argument between who gets to be Han, but we settled it by flipping a coin. I was Han, he decided to be Leia because he got lazy trying to make a new costume and Leia was the easy one.”

“That’s cute,” Luna smiles.

“Did you fuck him in the Star Wars outfit?” Ardyn asks, flipping through the pages of his Star Wars comic. “Or did you fuck him in general?”

Noctis chokes on air. “ _W-what_?”

“Ardyn!” scolds Luna, a frown covering her features. “Don’t ask those things!”

“But Lady Lunafreya, I recall you being curious about it, too!” he smirks. “Don’t you remember our conversations a few weeks ago?”

“ _What?_ ” Noctis lifts up his hand. “Am I the only one who’s not up to date with this conversation?”

“Yes,” replies Ardyn. Noctis ignores him.

“Why were you talking about me and Prompto…” he trails off, face reddening with every word. “ _Why?_ ”

“Well, I tried to set you up ages ago,” Luna says like it’s nothing, adding up to the shelf because Noctis suddenly stopped doing his job. “I sent him a letter.”

“You _told_ him to date me?”

“No, I did not tell him to date you. I said that he should continue to be a good friend for you, but I wasn’t aware you two were not friends when I sent that letter.” Luna stops. “I should have had sent another letter telling him to date you.”

“I don’t mean to intrude — but did you fuck him or…”

A comicbook ends up on Ardyn’s face. Noctis smiles smugly, but then quickly remembers what they’re talking about and his face reddens again.

“We didn’t — we just —”

Both Luna and Ardyn’s eyebrows rise up at the same time, expecting Noctis to follow his sentence.

“We made out, like, once. After the Halloween party. We were kind of drunk, he probably doesn’t even remember it happened, but—yeah. That. Are you two happy now? Why were you even _discussing_ that?”

“Curiosity,” Luna answers. “That’s all. I thought you made a great couple.”

“Yeah, well—” _Maybe we would’ve made a great couple_ , he thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. “It wouldn’t have worked it out, anyways. We got engaged two years later.”

“It was an arranged marriage,” Ardyn points out. “You could’ve had a tragic relationship, you fool.” He stops, and then adds: “Wow. And all this time I thought you were in love with him. Why did you think I kidnapped him out of all of your friends?”

A heavier comic book ends up on his face. Ardyn groans.

“That’s for kidnapping Prompto, you son of a bitch,” Noctis says, clenching his fists.

“So wait,” Luna frowns. “You didn’t make a move on Prompto because of the engagement?”

“I mean.” Noctis swallows. He had never talked about this, not to Prompto, not to Ignis or Gladio. “I felt guilty. I _knew_ it was for political reasons, but everyone thought I was in love with you, so I just. Went along with it, I guess?” he scratches his hair, suddenly very focused on the floor. “It feels weird to admit it out loud.”

“I understand how you feel,” Luna tells him quietly.

His eyebrows shoot up. That was one sentence he did _not_ expect. “You do?”

Ardyn chuckles. Noctis stops himself from throwing another comic to his ugly face. _What_ else did he know that Noctis didn’t?

“Ah, yes, Lady Lunafreya — I recall you briefly showing interest in one of the King’s glaives... who was it…? Nyx, is that right?”

“Nyx Ulric,” Luna replies with a fond smile. “He was a good man. I haven’t found him anywhere here, but my guess is that he’s in Niflheim,” she stops for a second, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Noctis tries to remember where he heard that name before — he must’ve met him before, because he remembers Ignis mentioning him. He also remembers Gladio talking about him, so their paths must’ve crossed at least once. “Had times been different, I would have loved to take my time to know him.”

At the confession, Noctis feels relieved. He had felt like he was betraying her by holding feelings for his best friend — not only betraying her, but betraying his family and his friends, too. He visibly relaxes; he lets out a relieved sigh and he shakes his head. “Gods, I felt guilty about it for ages.”

“Do you feel better now?” she asks. Noctis nods.

“Yeah, a lot,” Noctis resumes his task, “I think if we had talked about this on the notebooks it would’ve turned out differently.”

“Why notebooks?” Ardyn wonders out loud. “Why using a dog? Isn’t that too much trouble? You could’ve used the cellphone, Your Majesty.”

“No, the Imperials would’ve found out,” Noctis reasons.

“Did you even try it?”

“…No,” he sighs. “There are things I could’ve done differently, but what’s done is done and I just have to deal with them. Can we keep organizing these comics, please?”

 **vi**.

“How about we go to clean your room, Luna?” Noctis proposes with a grin. “I still haven’t seen it.”

Luna looks agitated. “Oh, I’d rather not — wow, look, it’s tea time, would you like to drink it?”

She stumbles over her words, which almost _never_ happens — Luna is the last person who’d ever stumble over her words or stutter out something. Noctis frowns.

“What’s in the room, Luna?”

“Well…” She sighs. “Look for yourself.”

Noctis opens the door, slowly, and his eyes widen. It’s _so messy_. As in, he can literally remember having his own room _this_ messy and hearing Ignis’ endless deep sighs, but holy shit. Noctis stares at her in awe.

“I forgot to clean,” Luna says.

“For a month?”

“I’ve been in the afterlife for years,” she shrugs, “I didn’t think any of you would come around soon. I thought I had time to clean up.”

“You had _years_ to clean up,” Ardyn points out, incredibly amused. “Lady Lunafreya, I must say, you did not strike me as a messy person.”

“I did not strike _myself_ as a messy person until I lived here alone,” Luna replies honestly, an edge of humor on her sentence. “Noctis, are you okay? You’re staring at the room like it damaged you.”

It must’ve damaged the part of his heart where he holds Ignis. He could imagine Ignis’ reaction: the perfectly blank face he would pull that Noctis would _know_ that he’s having a meltdown on the inside. Still, he smiles a little at Luna.

“I’m just surprised,” Noctis crosses his arms, staring at the room. “We’ve got _work_ to do.”

A piece of clothing falls from the roof. Ardyn suppresses a laugh and Luna glares at him. They’ve got a _lot_ of work to do.

 

Just as Noctis thinks his job of folding clothes will never end, Ardyn says, “So, Noct…”

“Don’t call me Noct.”

“Noct,” he repeats, “how were you going to make your marriage work if you still had feelings for your dear Prompto? I apologize for hanging onto a subject for so long, but you must realize: we are dead and our topics to talk about are just a few.”

Noctis bites his lip. “Uh… I was hoping to talk to Luna about it, when the time came,” he explains, suddenly very concentrated in the stain of cheese on the floor — how did _that_ get there? “I didn’t want it to be a marriage. I just saw it as a chance to reconnect with a friend that I haven’t seen in twelve years. That’s all that it was.”

“And…?”

“I still wouldn’t have made a move on Prompto. Why are you so curious about this?”

“As I said: we just have a few topics. Your secret love life seems far more interesting than anything we’re doing here.”

“I agree,” says Luna with a big grin. “Since we are on the topic of interesting things, can I propose watching the TV as an alternative to cleaning?”

Noctis frowns. “Luna. It’s still dirty.”

“At this pace, it’ll take us _years_ , and my favorite show is about to be on.”

There’s no room left for arguing, so he decides to go on and join them on the sofa. Ardyn brings the tea with him, and Noctis is highly suspicious of it – then realizes, he can’t die of poisoning because he’s dead, so what the hell. Luna sits in the middle of the sofa and Noctis sits by her right side, as Ardyn takes the other one. Noctis still can’t wrap his head around as to _why_ Ardyn hanging out with _them_ , but, at least he can relish in the satisfaction that he killed Ardyn. And, he can still kick him out whenever he wants, so that’s a good thing.

Luna switches on the TV and starts changing channels, until settling for one where the scenery looks dangerously similar to Hammerhead.

Except — holy crap that _is_ Hammerhead.

“What’s this?” Noctis sits up straighter, eyes widened. “Is this…?”

“The living world!” Luna exclaims with glee. “It’s the only way I keep up to date with you all.”

“Be quiet, you two,” Ardyn shushes, “there they are.”

Noctis sees who enters the frame and his heart leaps in his chest. It’s his friends. Prompto is chatting to Cindy animatedly as Gladio guides Ignis through the shop — it looks entirely different from the last time Noctis was there. It’s _gigantic_ and so filled with _light,_ he feels tears starting to appear on his eyes: they’re alive. The sun is up. They’re _together_.

“…so it only makes sense that they’re dating,” Luna is saying when Noctis pays attention again. Noctis frowns. “I highly doubt he needs help to walk around the shop. It’s just obvious.”

Ardyn nods. “It angers me that we do not have a certain answer.”

“Are you talking about my friends?”

“Ignis and Gladiolus, yes,” Ardyn confirms. “Lady Lunafreya and I have been discussing the nature of their relationship.”

Noctis’ frown disappears. Oh, _really_.

“And what did you come up with?” he asks, using all his willpower to not snort.

“We believe they are dating,” Luna says, deep in thought. “But we are not sure. Their actions can be excused as platonic, but at the same time, they can be also passed as romantic. It is very confusing.”

He thinks back of all the times he saw Ignis and Gladio awkwardly trying to flirt when they thought Noctis was too tired to listen after training, he thinks back of all the times he woke up early by accident and caught glimpses of Gladio with his arms wrapped around Ignis while he made breakfast, and smiles to himself.

“You’re right,” is all Noctis says, “very confusing, indeed.”

“We have made a bet. I say they will get together in a month, Lady Lunafreya bets that it will be in three weeks.”

“Your gambling habits are getting out of control,” Noctis points out. “Why such a short amount of time, though?”

 “It’s just guessing,” she replies. “Before you came here, we were watching the channel and they started acting a lot fonder towards each other, so maybe it’s a matter of time.”

“Right,” he says, leaning back on the sofa again, trying to not get too obvious. “Can I bet, too?”

“Absolutely.”

“My bet is that they’re already together.”

“Oh! That’s a bold move, Your Majesty,” Ardyn laughs. “What happens if you win?”

“We go fishing all day long.”

Luna purses her lips. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I’m not going to talk, or look at you, or breathe near you. It’s going to be me and fishing.”

“Sounds perfect,” Ardyn says. “Quiet at last.”

Noctis counts to ten to not lash out. Instead, he nods, and the bet is on.

 

When Ignis leans in to kiss Gladio, Luna and Ardyn both react excitedly, and Noctis truly tries his best to appear to be surprised. He hears them talk about _their_ wedding, and suddenly, he’s not trying anymore. He _didn’t_ know they were engaged.

“Wait, that means they already were together,” Luna points out. “Oh, no.”

**vii.**

Noctis happily drives the car, playing music a bit louder, as Luna crosses her arms on the passenger’s seat and Ardyn makes himself comfortable on the backseat.

“That’s not _fair_ ,” Luna huffs, “you already _knew_ they were together!”

“To be _fair_ ,” Noctis counteracts, “I didn’t know they were engaged!”

“But you _knew_ they were together, that’s cheating,” Ardyn grunts. “Are we really just going fishing?”

“I mean, it’s Galdin Quay. You both can do whatever you want. I, for one, want to fish.” Noctis frowns. “How does fishing work around here? We’re all dead. Am I going to catch dead fish?”

“We’ll let you find out,” Luna says. “I’ll walk around the place. I’ve never been here.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

As he’s fishing (turns out there’s still fish to be caught, thank Gods), he wonders if he’ll ever stop feeling sad about missing his friends. He can practically _hear_ Ignis and Gladio saying they’ll be walking around buying supplies. If he thinks about it hard enough, he can almost make out Prompto sitting next to him at the edge of the dock, playing King’s Knight, his camera resting on his side while he waited for Noctis to catch a big one so he could take a picture.

He really misses Prompto.

It’s annoying, he supposes, because he’s _dead_ but he’s _dead and in love with his best friend_.

Noctis is not sure what’s going to happen in the afterlife — he’s aware he’s not going to be happy until his friends are with him, too. Not that Noctis wants them to die, of course. He just wants them with him.

Still, he has a friend he hasn’t seen in ages to catch up, and the guy who must be related to him in some weird way to try to be able to stand a little more.

The picture on his pocket burns a little.

He tells himself he’s not as lonely as he thinks.

 

**viii.**

Noctis learns to play Poker against his will. He’s _awful_ at it, but Luna and Ardyn seem to have fun when Noctis majorly fucks up a movement. Still, the most bizarre part of it is the amount of things he learns about both of them.

“You know that mercenary? The girl with the spear, Miss Highwind?” Luna asks in the middle of the game.

“Yeah, we’re…friends, I guess. What about Aranea?”

“Aranea,” Luna says. “I would have dated her if I had the chance.”

Noctis’ eyes widen. “I didn’t think your type would be intimidating girls.”

Luna shrugs. “Me neither. But she’s really good.”

“You should tell her that if she comes around here.”

“I would do it gladly,” Luna lies down her cards. “Full house.”

“ _Crap_ ,” Ardyn replies, throwing the cards in the air. “How?”

“I guess I just got the _hand_ of it, huh.”

Ardyn pinches the bridge of his nose. “Lady Lunafreya, I would have stabbed you for that pun again.”

“Good thing we are already dead, Mr. Izunia.” Luna turns back her attention to Noctis. “So, what about you?”

“Uh, I don’t know what these cards mean.”

“No, silly. What’s your secret type of people you’re into?”

Noctis’ mind immediately wanders to familiar blue eyes, freckled body, blond hair and—

“We lost him,” Ardyn shakes his head, dramatically sighing. “Always thinking about his dear Prompto. Love is such a complicated, strange thing, don’t you think?”

Noctis rolls his eyes. “What about _you_ , Ardyn?”

“Me? You offend me, Majesty. I don’t have time for such a meaningless thing as love. I do not care, nor do I comprehend it, so I simply do not pay attention to it. It will not bring me any sense of fulfillment or joy, thus I have decided to ignore its existence.”

He stares at Ardyn, blankly. “Well, that’s my cue to leave,” he says, standing up and walking out of the room.

**ix.**

“Dude, seriously. It’s been _ages_. I don’t hate you anymore, but _please_ — stop fucking eating my food.”

Ardyn looks up from his place in the sofa, his hand deep inside of the bag of chips Noctis had been saving for the movie marathon in for this weekend. “I am afraid you’ve gotten the wrong person — this is not your food.”

“It’s _mine_. I _bought_ it.”

“Frankly, I don’t see your name written on it, Majesty.”

“Fuck you. I wish you were dead.”

“I am dead,” Ardyn says, feigning his next gasp. “I can bet you wouldn’t talk to your dear Prompto like this.”

“Prompto would not have eaten Noctis’ food without asking,” Luna pipes in from the kitchen. Noctis nods at her direction. “Just buy him another one, Ardyn. You know he gets whiny if he doesn’t eat junk food.”

“Honestly, I find it hard to believe you’re thirty,” Ardyn sighs dramatically.

Still, half an hour later, he throws an extra-large bag of chips to Noctis’ face while he’s watching another new movie with Luna. This is progress.

The thing about movie nights, though, is that more than often Noctis ends up talking about his life with his friends. He talks about Ignis, he talks about Gladio, and he talks about _Prompto_ , and the photo he always carries with him ends up with a million tears on it.

Luna holds his hand, and Ardyn has grown to even give him a sympathetic smile.

He just really misses his friends.

It would just be a matter of time, he guesses.

 

**x.**

Ignis is the first one to arrive.

Noctis thinks is funny, how Ignis is the first one he met and how he’s the first one to arrive.

There’s a scar over his eyes, but he’s not wearing his usual dark glasses and his eyes are open. He’s looking at Noctis, stunned, like he can’t quite believe he’s there. Frankly, Noctis can’t believe it, either. He looks _different_ , but at the same time, it’s still Ignis.

He looks at the ring on his hand, and finally, he finds the appropriate words to say.

“Congratulations on the wedding,” Noctis says, and his voice breaks on _wedding_. “Sorry for missing it.”

Finally, Ignis snaps out of it, and grabs Noctis by the shoulders, pulling him into a hug.

“You’ve aged well, Highness,” Ignis’ voice is filled with emotion. Noctis feels bad for leaving so many tears on his shirt. “I remember you as a twenty-year old.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t see me with a beard.”

He feels Ignis physically shudder at that. “A _beard_?”

“Yeah, well, it was a good look.”

Ignis separates from him, keeping a hand on his shoulder, almost like he’s afraid Noctis will fade away if he didn’t.

Luna scoffs from the door to the apartment. “It was not a good look. Stop lying to yourself.”

Ignis’ attention snaps over her. “Lady Lunafreya?”

“Ignis,” she grins. “It is so great to have you here. Noctis has not eaten a vegetable since he died.”

The grip on his shoulder tightens by a million times. “Is that so?”

“It’s _exactly_ so,” Ardyn comments behind Luna.

Ignis shoots him an icy glare, and then stares back at Noctis.

Noctis shrugs. “He lives here. He’s our neighbor and he steals our food. I’m used to it.” He puts Ignis’ hand away, because _frankly_ , it’s started to hurt. Still, he gives Ignis another hug, because if there’s one thing he realized while being in the afterlife is that he didn’t get to hug his friends as much as he wanted. “Welcome home.”

 **xi**.

It’s not a surprise that Gladio is the one that follows next.

There’s a big grin on his face when he sees Noctis, and he doesn’t hesitate to pull him into a bone-crushing hug.

“I can’t believe I’ve missed you,” Gladio says once he lets him go, sniffing a little.

Noctis doesn’t even bother hiding the tears. “I’ve missed you too. By the way, congrats on the wedding.”

“Sad thing you missed it,” Gladio’s shoulders slump. “We had it near the sea. You could’ve fished a big fish for our wedding present.”

“I can fish a big one too here, if you really want it.”

“How about we do that later,” he grins. “Where’s Iggy?”

“Here,” Ignis says, stepping out of the apartment. “Hello, again.”

Noctis feels like he’s intruding on a very private moment when Gladio picks up Ignis and kisses him. Still, the smile that takes over his face is big enough to hurt, and his chest is filled with warmth and pride to see his both best friends so happy together.

Somewhere behind them, he hears someone clapping.

“Lady Lunafreya owes me food,” Ardyn exclaims. “I win this bet. I _knew_ he was going to pick Ignis up.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Luna sighs. “Hello, Gladiolus. It’s great to meet you.”

“Lady Luna,” he nods at her, smiling. “And…”

“You get used to him,” Ignis replies. Noctis chuckles.

“Okay, everyone, let’s go inside and let’s get ready to go fishing. I’ve got a present to deliver.”

 

When Noctis catches the biggest fish, he hands it to his two friends, and he _knows_ Prompto’s cheery voice and flash going off is what’s missing on this entire thing.

His heart leaps on his chest. It’s only a matter of time.

 

**xii.**

Noctis has never been more nervous than he is right now.

His hands are _sweating_ , his heart is racing, but Prompto Argentum is there and he’s not sure who goes first — if he’s the one who ran first or Prompto — but all he knows is that he’s holding Prompto in his arms and he’s crying on his shoulder a lot.

 _Both_ of them are shaking. It’s just — he’s just —

 _He’s here_.

“You’ve missed me, buddy?” Prompto asks, his laugh coming off as a sob, and Noctis can’t really take it anymore.

He cups Prompto’s face on his hands and leans in to kiss him. It took him _way too long_ , but this is happening, and they _can’t_ be separated now.

“I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea.”

Someone _claps._ Noctis is willing to bet it was Ardyn. Not letting go of Prompto, he turns his head around, and indeed it _was_ him.

“Can you _not_? I’m in the middle of _something_.”

“Sorry, Majesty, but I’ve won the bet,” he explains easily. “I had to celebrate.”

“Oh, Lady Luna!” Prompto exclaims, excitedly. “I can’t believe it’s actually you!”

Luna grins. “I am so _happy_ to meet you!”

Noctis grabs his hand, dragging him to the rest of the group. Ignis and Gladio both hug him.

“Nice to see you again,” Gladio says when he lets him go.

“I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting,” Prompto smiles, a bit nervously. “Just, you know. Dying is a process, you guys.”

Noctis squeezes his hand, because _holy crap_ , he’s there.

“You’re actually in time,” Ignis says. “We were going to start watching another TV show.”

“I suggested Sailor Moon,” Ardyn adds.

Prompto frowns. “What is _he_ doing here?”

“He’s the neighbor,” Luna waves her hand, dismissively. “You can pretend he’s not here. We do that a lot.”

“Noted.” He looks at Noctis, bringing him closer to him, and smiles brightly. “So, we’re watching Sailor Moon?”

For the first time, Noctis feels the picture on his pocket burn, but it doesn’t hurt. They’re together again, and that’s what it matters. He sheds a few more tears, unable to help himself, only to be pulled in a group hug between the four of them again.

They don’t stop crying for a good while.

 

**(xiii.**

Noctis’ apartment ends up becoming _Noctis and Prompto’s_ apartment, although it's the official hangout place for everyone. The rest of his friends and Ardyn all live nearby, not too far away from each other, which is great for Noctis. He can't believe things are like this.

Prompto is sitting on the sofa, wearing only his underwear and a t-shirt as he excitedly talks to Noctis about the new photo album he’s planning on organizing. Noctis is only wearing his sweatpants, there are two mugs of coffee in the table in front of them, and everyone Noctis has ever loved and Ardyn are living near him.

He interrupts Prompto mid-rant to press a kiss to his lips.

He’s finally home.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> congrats if u made it to the end. again. make sure u follow @tonberrypng. a great great artist and lovely person <3
> 
> i am, for one, not fan of the whole Afterlife thing or living for eternity in fact i actually hate it but also i just want my boys to be happy so i will be a hypocrite just for them


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